Meloni has become one of the strongest voices in the EU this is not new though she, Mark Rutte and others have been working on immigration for a while now.


'Mediator' Meloni must save European furniture during Trump's visit
By Chris Koenis ·13 hours ago· Amended: 10 hours ago

RTL News
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is traveling to the White House for a key meeting with President Trump. EU leaders are hoping the right-wing conservative politician can help ease US tariffs. But why her? Five questions and answers.

Meloni is officially visiting the US today as part of a state visit. The topic of the conversation will however be the import duties. She is the first European leader to visit Trump since the pause of the tariffs on the EU.

1. Why this visit?
At the top of the agenda is the trade war that Trump has unleashed. Although his most extreme import duties on European goods have been paused for 90 days, all EU countries, including the Netherlands, still face a hefty standard duty of 10 percent.

In addition, defense will probably be discussed. Italy's defense spending is rising, but the country does not meet the NATO standard that Trump insists on. He has threatened several times that allies who do not contribute enough will not be able to count on American military aid.

2. Why is Meloni travelling and not, for example, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen?
Meloni has a good relationship with Trump, with whom she shares an ideology as party leader of the populist radical right party Fratelli d'Italia. Meloni was also the only European leader to attend Trump's swearing-in as president earlier this year. Trump called her a "fantastic leader and person".

The Italian prime minister has been cautious about criticizing Trump's erratic foreign policy and his tactless and factually incorrect statements about the EU and Ukraine. She was remarkably calm when Trump initially imposed a 20 percent tariff on all goods from the EU, saying that "scaremongering does much more damage than import tariffs."

At the same time, Meloni is known within the EU as a pragmatic head of government who is prepared to cooperate and compromise. This is in contrast to other populists within the EU, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán and Serbian President Vucic. In this way, Meloni can suddenly grow from a feared populist to the savior of the EU.

3. What do other countries think about Meloni traveling to Washington?
France and Germany in particular, traditionally the two major powers within the EU that have a lot of influence, will not be entirely reassured that Meloni will be their mouthpiece. The Italian once described the euro as a form of slavery and has not traditionally been known as someone who defends European values ??and integration. "Bring down this EU," she said in a speech at the ultra-conservative CPAC conference in the US in 2019.

Meloni is also friends with businessman Elon Musk, who has emerged as a controversial Trump administration adviser. Musk recently angered many European politicians by expressing support for the controversial German political party AfD and the British right-wing extremist activist and hooligan Tommy Robinson.

4. What does the EU want?
As much free trade as possible. For that, the European trading bloc is probably prepared to buy extra gas or other raw materials from the Americans, for example, or to scrap import duties on American cars. Because that seems to be the easiest way out of the trade conflict between the US and Europe: a new deal that Trump can sell at home as an American victory.

Here's how Trump announced his original import duties:

Trump in speech: 'Other countries have plundered us'
The EU especially does not want the conflict to turn into a years-long trade war with tariffs on both sides. That could also hit the European economy quite hard and even push a trading country like the Netherlands into a recession in the worst-case scenario.

5. But is that what Meloni wants?
That remains to be seen. Meloni also has to deal with import duties in her own country, which are damaging the Italian economy. The other EU leaders therefore hope that Meloni will act as a mediator who defends the interests of all EU countries. After all, Italy is also an export country with a trade surplus of 40 billion euros with the US.

If she succeeds, it would also increase her own power within the EU. "If she eases the negotiations with Trump without punishing Europe, she will come out much stronger," Italian political analyst Lorenzo Castellani said in an interview with Reuters.